I’m Louise Maich, Frank
Erceg’s niece. Here’s how the whole thing started…
In 1998 I was working on a film
being shot in the Queenstown Lakes region. I distinctly remember the day when driving
to our next location near Wanaka, that it hit me I was in Uncle Frank’s country
– and it got me thinking about him.
Next stop was Christchurch, and while
poking around in the Arts Centre Bookshop I came across Philip
Holden’s recently published book New Zealand Hunter. I scanned the contents page and noticed the name Erceg. On page 87 was
a reference to Frank, and that he was “perhaps the greatest hunter of them all.” I
bought my first hunting book that day.
Many New Zealand hunting
books mention Frank and talk about his exceptional abilities as a marksman, mountaineer,
and wildlife photographer.
His talent seemed to know no
boundaries and he was on his way to carving out a place in New Zealand history
with his photography already published in the Weekly News and other periodicals of the day.
There’s no doubt he would
have gone on to produce his own publications. He was already talking about it
with his mates. The tragedy is his life ended at age thirty on June 1st
1965, along with his mate John Cummings – they were the first fatalities in the
helicopter meat-recovery industry.
Since 1998 I’ve been researching
and collecting stories, anecdotes, photographs and correspondence relating to Frank,
and the book I’ve always wanted to produce is taking shape, it’s a big
job for sure, however the support thus far has been tremendous.
 |
| Frank Erceg early 1960s |
